Warriors Prove Even LeBron James Can’t Do It Alone

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Can LeBron James be enough of a solitary star to overcome a deep and well-rounded Golden State team?CreditEzra Shaw/Getty Images

By Scott Cacciola

June 15, 2015

OAKLAND, Calif. — It was up to LeBron James again to try to salvage what he could against a superior team, to push the Golden State Warriors to the brink as he chased another improbable victory for the Cleveland Cavaliers. So he lined up a shot 34 feet from the basket, and nobody at Oracle Arena on Sunday night seemed terribly surprised when it went in.

LeBron was doing LeBron things in the fourth quarter, giving Cleveland a 1-point lead with less than eight minutes to play in Game 5 of the N.B.A. finals. But he could not do it alone, not this time, and the spotlight soon shifted to Golden State’s Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson, who hit 3-pointers, and to Andre Iguodala, who attacked the rim, and to Draymond Green, who rebounded and defended.

As the Warriors pulled away for a 104-91 victory that left them on the cusp of history — they can clinch their first championship in 40 years with a win in Cleveland on Tuesday night — they seemed to be proving the value of team in the shadow of immense individual talent.

“Our guys are competing like crazy,” said Steve Kerr, the coach of the Warriors, “and that’s what it takes.”

For the first three games of this series, James was able to mask the absences of Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love, dragging an injury-ravaged roster to within two wins of the title. But the finals are proving too long and too taxing for one player — even one as enormously gifted as James — to overcome the collective effort of a high-octane opponent.

“You’re not going to shut him down,” Green said. “But if you continue to make him work hard for each and every bucket that he gets, it takes a toll on his body.”

The Warriors, who own a three-games-to-two lead in the best-of-seven series, have their own star in Curry, who finished with 37 points in Game 5. But he also had plenty of help.

He listed several teammates afterward, calling out Leandro Barbosa, the veteran guard who had 13 points in 17 minutes off the bench, and Harrison Barnes, who had two explosive dunks, including one over James that shook the arena. Curry also spoke fondly of Green.

“I love the chemistry I have with this guy right next to me,” Curry said.

Warriors not named Stephen Curry had 67 points, 36 rebounds and 21 assists. Cavaliers not named LeBron James had 51 points, 23 rebounds and 6 assists.

“Sometimes we’re a little too confident and we get carried away,” Kerr said. “But they believe in what they’re doing and they believe in each other.”

James, who scored 40 points (again), was asked what more he could do in Game 6. It was a reasonable question, given his outsize production through five games: averages of 36.6 points, 12.4 rebounds and 8.8 assists. On Sunday, he scored or assisted on 70 of the Cavaliers’ 91 points.

“I don’t know,” James said. “I don’t put a ceiling on what I can do. I don’t know.”

He proceeded to nitpick his effort, citing offensive rebounds that he yielded to Barbosa and Barnes. He had two turnovers. He could make some improvements on defense.

“I know I’m shouldering a lot of the burden, but it is what it is,” James said, adding: “I feel confident because I’m the best player in the world. It’s that simple.”

It was a bold statement — just saying something like that takes confidence — but one factual in nature. Nobody can do what James does, and he has five straight appearances in the finals to show for it. Unfortunately for him, the Cavaliers are using masking tape to hold themselves together as the series winds toward a conclusion.

The turn in the series has as much to do with strategy as effort, of course. The Warriors, after losing two of the first three games, figured out that they needed to go with a smaller lineup against the Cavaliers to generate pace and produce scoring opportunities. So Kerr cast Andrew Bogut, his starting center, to the bench for all but three minutes of Game 4, and the Warriors won by 21.

“It’s a chess match,” Curry said.

On Sunday, David Blatt, the coach of the Cavaliers, felt he had no choice but to counter that move, so he played Timofey Mozgov — the same Timofey Mozgov who scored 28 points in Game 4 — for only nine minutes. For nearly three quarters, the Cavaliers (fine, mostly LeBron) matched the Warriors possession for possession.

“I felt that was the best chance for us to stay in the game,” Blatt said.

Golden State ultimately had too many options. And with the Cavaliers teetering on exhaustion and their defensive rotations lacking, Curry caught fire late.

Curry scored 17 points in the fourth quarter, and the noise in the building reached a peak when he found one of his favorite spots, this one along the baseline, deep in the corner, beyond the 3-point arc. He let the ball fly, and the sense of expectation from the crowd was like a balloon filling with helium. It popped when the ball sailed through the hoop.

The Warriors led by 10, and James, for once, seemed out of answers. If the Cavs want to prolong the series, they will need to do something dramatic at home on Tuesday.

“Whoever’s in the game needs to do their job, do it at a high level and do it to the best of their ability,” James said. “And you live with the aftermath after that.”

Correction:

An earlier version of this article misstated the final score of Game 5 of the N.B.A. finals. The result was 104-91, not 101-94.

A version of this article appears in print on , on Page B10 of the New York edition with the headline: Cavs’ One-Man Show Could Soon Close. Order Reprints | Today’s Paper | Subscribe